


Birthday Angel

by Sherry_CS



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: Happy birthday Feilong! 2020, M/M, No real underage just being safe, barely any sexual content really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23575210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherry_CS/pseuds/Sherry_CS
Summary: Translation of 生辰天使。Gift fic for Feilong’s birthday 2020. An angel helps a lost child find his birthday, in return, the child finds for the angel a dream dreamier than Heaven.
Relationships: Mikhail Arbatov/Liu Fei Long
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	Birthday Angel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rezzos](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Rezzos), [LisuliaH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LisuliaH/gifts).
  * A translation of [生辰天使](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22500496) by [Sherry_CS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherry_CS/pseuds/Sherry_CS). 



On the morning of his sixth birthday, Liu Feilong first met him, his Birthday Angel. The Angel was sitting by his bedside when he woke up, bright golden curls, brighter visage, a diaphanous veil of ivory light shielding his whole presence, a huge pair of wings opening and closing behind him in a subtle, almost sentient way. 

‘Who are you?’ Little Feilong asked in that puppy-dog way a six-year-old possessed. 

‘I am your Birthday Angel.’ He Who Carried His Own Lights answered softly. 

‘Does everyone have a Birthday Angel?’

‘No-oh, only the good-est of the good kids have’em, you know.’ The Angel petted Feilong’s head, lying through his teeth. 

‘You’re a liar. I am no good kid. How can someone like me have his own angel?’ Feilong lowered his head. 

The Angel panicked for a moment. He had not met a lot of kids who insisted they were not good. He knelt beside the bed, resting his head upon the soft mattress like a good puppy, and reached his hand out to pinch the kid’s cheek. ‘What nonsense. You have been veeeery good. Alrighty-o, let’s get you out of this bed and get you ready for your birthday surprise, shall we?’

‘Will I get a present?’ Little Feilong was all of a sudden very excited. 

‘Of COURSE. Your birthday this year is very important to your family, y’know.’

‘REALLY? Really really really?’ Feilong was practically springing out of the bed. 

The Angel lifted the kid high, tickling him with the tips of his giant wings, making the kid giggle like church bells. ‘Aren’t you a good kid? Aren’t the GOOD-est of the good kids?’ The Angel laughed too, flashing his teeth as white as his wings. 

There was a tentative knock on the door. ‘Master Feilong? Are you up?’

“Y..Yes! I’m up!’ The kid couldn’t stop his giggling. 

‘Is there someone in your room, Master Feilong?’

“No! No one at all! Come in please, Gillian.’ Feilong called out toward the door, his voice calm again in a snap of fingers. Can a six-year-old actually sound that well-controlled? The Angel couldn’t help but wonder. 

When Feilong turned his head, the Angel was nowhere to be found, as if he’d never been there. 

The maid, Gillian, entered to find her little Master crouching on the floor looking for something. 

‘What are you looking for, Master Fei?’ Gillian asked. 

Feilong straightened. ‘Nothing.’

It’s too bad he couldn’t find a feather or two. Otherwise he could’ve told his older brother all about it. 

His birthday present that year was a Kung Fu master. It was true that his sixth birthday was of special importance to his family because that year, they had finally decided upon the path of their second son’s destiny.

On the day of his twelfth birthday, Liu Feilong was wearing his girl-like bob cut, immaculately dressed in white shirt and a diamond-patterned woollen vest, his stockings coming up to his knees, dutifully held in place by a pair of hoses, his black leather shoes shone spotlessly clean. The Angel descended from the open window, startling the teen who was furiously working away at something at his desk. 

‘Did I frighten you?’ The Angel sat himself upon the desk, crossing his legs comfortably while closing his wings. His golden locks were tossed and teased into a calculated mess, just like in the magazines. He was wearing a crumpled white shirt and a pair of baggy white khaki pants, also in trend that year. He even sported a silver chain hanging off one side of his legs.

‘How come you’re so late?’ The teen threw the Angel a grumpy glance before continuing with his task. He seemed to be struggling with a gift box, trying to wrap it but failing miserably.

The Angel scratched his messy head. ‘Sorry. Five billion people, that’s a lot of birthdays. Gets a little busy sometimes.’

The teen suddenly went mad. ‘So you lied to me last time! I thought you were MY angel!’

The Angel was promptly taken aback. His work ethic being anything to make the customer happy, he’d made up all sorts of lies to calm a bawling kid, and he genuinely couldn’t be sure if he made any promise of that kind to this kid. Just when he was busy figuring out how to get out of this one, the kid shoved the gift box that he’d just failed at wrapping for the (N+1)th time into the Angel’s face. ‘Here, wrap this for me, and I might consider forgiving you.’

The Angel looked at the boy, then at the gift, then at the boy again, then at the gift. ‘Wait... either I’ve got it wrong or... I’ve got it wrong. Isn’t today _your_ birthday? Why are you giving someone else a gift?’

‘Doesn’t matter.’ The boy snatched the box away.

‘I’ll do it!’ The Angel snatched it back. ‘I’ll do it alright, Your Tiny Majesty.’

‘It’s Brother’s first horse race today. If he won, as I know he will, I’ll give this to him as a gift.’ The boy explained, looking a little bash. He checked his watch, ‘golly! It’s this late! I’ll have to hurry. You too! And make it presentable!’

‘Alright, alright...’ The Angel nodded as he struggled with the ribbons with his own not-so-agile hands. He thought for a moment that he was an angel, not a manservant, and decided he might take this to his superior later and ask for a raise. ‘What’s in here?’ He asked casually.

‘A zircon miniature horse. Brother looked at it a number of times last time we were at the jockey club.’ 

‘What? Do kids give each proper gifts like this nowadays?’

The boy was now fully dressed, satchel in hand, cap in place, all that he lacked was the Angel’s handcraft. The kid shrugged. ‘What else am I gonna do with all that pocket money?’

The Angel’s hands stopped for a second. 

Having finally completed his task, the Angel delivered his work into the ‘boss’s hands, not forgetting to squeeze his ‘boss’s nose. ‘Got a birthday wish this year?’

The teen swatted the Angel’s hand away. Aw. ‘If you were a real Birthday Angel, then you could surely help me find out when my real birthday is.’

‘Huh?’ The Angel was thrown for a loop. 

The teen looked incredulous. ‘What are you? An apprentice angel? It’s not my birthday today.’

‘But it’s clearly written here...’ The Angel swiped at something in the air, probably some kind of book that mortals could not see. 

The teen sighed. ‘I am an adopted kid. Today is the day Father found me, not my actual birthday. Did you do any research at all?’

The Angel’s hand halted in mid-air. He looked toward this fragile-looking boy and found no resentment, nor sadness in his face. Then he nodded. ‘Your wish is heard.’ He nodded, angel to man. The kid nodded too, man to angel. 

Before Feilong exited the room, he turned around and said, ‘Also, can you try to dress like an angel next time? The way you looked, for a second I thought you were someone from a rival gang and I could’ve shot your dead. Wait... you’re already dead.’

The kid seemed to be deep in thinking as he left the room. All was quiet. Not a soul around to witness this moment. The Angel flapped his wings and flew back where he came. 

On Liu Feilong’s sixteenth birthday, his Angel looked for him everywhere, carrying his birthday surprise, and didn’t find him until sunset in his school’s corridor. The young man was wearing the girls’ uniform, leaning against the window ledge that overlooked the sports yard, his face heavily painted in smokey make-up, a middle-aged man kneeling underneath his skirt and him resting a leathered sole upon the man’s shoulder. The sun was dim, not an extra soul around in this school emptied for winter break. The smoke Feilong exhaled diffused the rays from the setting sun, creating the singular highlight in this bizarre picture. He had grown his hair out and looked more like a girl than ever. For a moment, the Angel thought he’d missed him again. 

The Angel landed on the window ledge opposite to Feilong’s. Feilong looked up and saw the Angel, but showed no intention to stop what he was doing, whatever it was. If anything, he shoved the middle-aged man’s head higher up his skirt. ‘Make an effort, Professor. You said you wanted to punish me, didn’t you? Well, DO.’ He commanded lazily. His voice had changed. Where innocence tingled like silver, now a dubious sort of warmth permeated like the bloody evening sun. His orbs shone with an eerie amethyst glow, locking the Angel’s gaze as if trying to prove something. 

His professor reached a hand up behind his skirt and Feilong promptly winced, his wall of wilfulness crumbling in an instant. He knit his brows and let out a painful little hiss. The Angel couldn’t bear it any more. He unfolded his wings and was in front of Feilong faster than the eyes could see. He grabbed the young man’s arm and snatched him away.

The Angel carried Feilong in his arms, his giant wings expanding to their full length. The wings were so very white, so very immense, it felt like they could take the pair of them into the Kingdom of the Setting Sun with one shake. The Angel never said anything. He carried his mortal like he was carrying a fistful of spring water. They circled the sky perhaps a hundred times before the Angel slowly took them back, sneaking into an empty classroom through a neglected window. He put his mortal gently upon a desk. 

‘Happy Birthday,’ said the Angel.

This beautiful child turned his head. ‘Told you it’s not my birthday.’

‘I found out your real birthday. Do you want to know it?’

The kid turned back. For a short moment, he looked into the Angel’s eyes and was divided. ‘No...’ he finally said, ‘No, I don’t want to hear it. Just let it drop. After today, don’t come looking for me any more. I’m not a good kid, never was. Don’t waste an angel’s time on me.’

He had barely finished that last sentence before the Angel’s big warm hands cupped his face. ‘Don’t say that. I don’t know what happened during these years, but you were chosen, by ME. And I won’t let you think of yourself that way.’

Feilong laughed. ‘You are as no good as ever. I thought you were a major angel or something. So you’re like Santa Claus, running errands around the globe, like Hallmark on legs, no, wings?’

The Angel pinched his face. ‘You’re right. Besides, I’m not nearly as well paid as that fat bastard. Damn gimmicky salesman.’ 

‘You don’t mean to say Santa Claus is real?!’ The teen’s eyes lit up just like when he was younger. 

‘You’ve seen an angel, haven’t you? What’s so surprising about Santa Claus?’ The Angel had to laugh.

‘Of course... Angel, Inferno... I’ve seen it all. There’s nothing that can... surprise me any more.’ The beautiful teen tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and gazed into the shadow.

Man and Angel stayed for a while in utter silence. Then Feilong shook his hair and opened his legs. ‘Hey, I didn’t get to finish here. Finish it for me, will you?’

‘WHAT?!’ The Angel took two steps back. 

‘It’s not against your Labour Laws, is it? Some sort of union rules in Heaven? You don’t have to do anything, just let me do the work...’

‘Who taught you to TALK like that?’ The Angel had to cover for his crotch.

‘Master, of course. I have all sorts of masters. One for combat, one for study, and one for this kind of thing too...’

‘WAIT, _WAIT_ , Feilong... Jesus, let an angel talk!’

Feilong’s crime-ing hand stopped in mid-air. ‘You remember my name?’

‘I’m your angel, aren’t I? Of course I remember your name!’ The Angel answered like it was a no-brainer. He really wanted to swat Feilong’s hand off but suspected it might hurt himself more. 

‘So... do you remember EVERYONE’s names?’

‘Of course not... That’s not possible. There are so many of them these days. The population just won’t stop exploding. Now, Feilong, please please please I’m begging you, STOP! I’m an _angel_ for God’s sake!’

Feilong stopped. He leaned back onto the desk, propping his legs up and opening them wide, his pleated skirt sliding down and collecting about his waist. ‘Then I’ll do it myself. You watch.’

‘Don’t, Feilong...’ The Angel knit his brows, pain in his face. 

‘No. I want you to. I want you to look carefully and see what your chosen child is like in other people’s eyes.’

So the Angel didn’t try to stop him any more. 

The sun had fully set. All was dark in the deserted classroom. The Angel spread his wings, protecting his fragile child amidst them. He cast a spell, shielding the child from all mortal eyes. Only he could see him, like he wanted him to. White liquid splashed against navy blue skirt. Sixteen-year-old Feilong smiled a lazy smile, and he was this cottony misty thing. The Angel covered those sparkly eyes with one big hand, and the boy fell asleep. He scooped the boy up and flew towards home.

He had deliberately worn something sleek and sophisticated that year. He wondered if his boy saw it. 

On Liu Feilong’s twentieth birthday, it rained all day and all night. He had grown into this gorgeous, dangerous man with raven-black hair reaching down to his waist. That night, he worked all that heavy silkiness into one single plait and dressed himself in black. He had a mission to accomplish. The Angel knocked on his window for the entire night and he pretended not to hear it. 

Even Birthday Angels need worshippers. If no one misses him, if no one has faith in him, then his power starts to dwindle. When a man forsakes his own birthday, he forsakes his connection with his Angel also. As time goes on, no matter how hard the Angel tries, he can never reconnect with his mortal again. 

When Liu Feilong was twenty five, his Birthday Angel furled his wings, crossed billions and billions and billions of layers of cloud, and stood before God. 

A twenty-eight-year-old Feilong came back from the nearby island country with his stomach wrapped in bandage and his chest hurting more than ever. He was dressed in his customary glorious cheongsam but seated in a wheelchair. He had to play tough in order to subdue a line of subordinates who not long ago stood in the same rank as him. Recently, even the slightest error sent him into a flying rage. He felt more and more like his long-dead Brother by the day. In the end, he couldn’t live without them, right? His Father and Brother. In the end, his existence was, as they said, pointless without them, right? He pressed against his chest. The wound shouldn’t hurt any more. He was sure the pain must be imagined. 

The door was suddenly thrown open. Loud noises rushed in from the outside. Irritated, Liu Feilong looked toward the source of the commotion and saw — what he never dared to dream seeing again — 

A man, dressed entirely in white, white suit, white shirt, white _tie_ , walking that familiar blasphemous walk, walking, toward _him_. His golden hair was as bright and unruly as the first day he saw it 22 years ago. Liu Feilong looked toward the void behind the man and unconsciously looked for a giant pair of wings that had supported him. Then he looked toward the clock on the wall and made sure it was not 1st Feb. 

‘Mikhail Arbatov. I don’t believe we’ve met.’ The man had said. 

Feilong was out for a few seconds. ‘What business do you have?’ He answered mechanically. In that instant, numerous guesses raced across his head. Was this a man with the same face? But his eyes were too familiar. Was he having last visions on his death bed? Perhaps the shots were a lot more critical than imagined and he had, in fact, been staying in the hospital all this time? Was this a divine prank? Or, was he finally seeing things?

The man kept approaching. Feilong thought he was seeing ivory lights around him. 

When he finally reached Feilong, he paced around to stand behind Feilong’s back and, leaning down, whispered next to his ear, ‘I’ve come to see about your wounds and...’

‘And?’ Feilong’s voice was chiffony light, his heart hung off a spider’s thread. 

‘And... Happy Birthday.’

‘But it isn’t Feilong-sama’s birthday today...’ A tiny child’s voice sounded from the back of the room and was promptly hushed. 

A red velvet box appeared in front of Feilong’s eyes. A calloused hand opened the box, revealing a snowy white feather resting upon silk cushion.

Liu Feilong had to cover his mouth so he wouldn’t cry out. 

Six, twelve, sixteen, twenty... The short span of his life flashed before his eyes. In that fleeting moment, the old Liu Feilong died, a new Liu Feilong was reborn, in this wheelchair, in this suffocating prison of a room. 

The stranger paced around and knelt before Feilong. His searching eyes pierced deep into Feilong’s soul.

‘I have long waited to see you,’ announced the man.

‘How is this possible?’ Feilong could barely hear his own voice.

‘I’m your Angel, aren’t I? How is anything _not possible_?’ 

His Angel had lost his wings. Yet where Liu Feilong looked, a majestic pair of wings definitely spread, infinite and luminously bright, a shade of gold that could move all men and gods to tears, behind this mortal’s back. 

  
‘Mikhail Arbatov?’

‘Yes?’

‘Where did that name come from? Were you a Russian angel?’

The former angel sighed, and rumpled Feilong’s hair as if he were still a small boy. ‘It was my name from my previous life.’

Feilong sat up straight. 

‘I told Father that I didn’t want to be an angel any more. I wanted down, on Earth. I wanted to spend every birthday with him. Father asked me if I was sure about this and I said I was. And then He played for me my memory from my previous life. It was our check-in luggage the day we moved into Heavens Hotel. He showed me my sins from that life and asked me for a second time if I was sure, if I was willing to give up all that I worked so hard for and pay for all these sins again. He told me that this time I might never come back. And I said I was. So He closed His eyes. I think He smiled. And then, I FELL.’ 

Liu Feilong was silent for a long time. This was the first time he had heard first-hand accounts from someone who came from Heaven. 

‘So... you kept your memories as an angel?’

Mikhail took Feilong in his arms, letting him rest his head upon his shoulder. ‘Only the ones about you.’

‘Why?’ Feilong asked softly.

‘Because I needed them to find you, that’s why, Your Cute Tiny Hopeless and Hopelessly Adorable Majesty.’

An angel helped a lost child find his birthday, in return, the child found the angel a dream dreamier than Heaven. Sometimes, Here is where you want to be. 

‘So... in a way, you have time-travelled, haven’t you?’

‘Time travel? What’s that?’

They fell together in laughter. 

That day, and every day afterwards, was a birthday for two. 


End file.
